Circles of Separation: Naming Rights

“The worst place is at the fork. You can’t keep going the same direction as you came. You have to choose one or other path. Whatever the choice, at least, it is movement.”

Interlude: Amira’s Names

Amira has different names in the different Circles. She is called Vera in the Outer Circle, Amira in the Middle Circle, and Lady Faith in the Inner Circle. Vera’s mission in the Outer Circle is to remember her spiritual name. Vera means faith. In remembering her name of Lady Faith, Vera also connects with her purpose and spiritual worth and is called Lady Faith henceforth. However, on Earth (the Middle Circle), she is called by her Earth name of Amira.

When Amira first appeared in Waldmeer as a human, she was not called Amira but Maria. She entered Earth via the compatible but injured sixteen-year-old body of Maria. It was only as Maria matured physically, emotionally, and spiritually that she was given her intended name of Amira at the age of twenty–six. Amira initially recalled Maria’s life, experiences, and preferences as if they were her own. Gradually, she started to hear Amira’s voice and that began the transition from Maria to Amira. The transition completed, Maria no longer existed on Earth, and Amira took full command of the body they had cohabited for years. During the final transition, Amira gained twelve years, making her the same age as Gabriel. That was several years ago and, since then, much has happened in Waldmeer and, even more, in the other dimensions.

Chapter 71: Separation and Love

Before Amira came to Waldmeer, she lived, for a while, as a spirit in the garden of Farkas’s current house. Back then, it wasn’t his house, although one could say it was his garden. Previous to his human arrival, Farkas was the garden’s guardian spirit. He had a little trouble with that task. He did try but there were problems. Maybe that was why spirit-Amira went to that garden. The Waldmeer garden wasn’t the only place that spirit-Farkas and spirit-Amira lived during that era. They separately travelled many places in spirit form, however, the Waldmeer garden was very important for them both and it was the forerunner of them becoming human. Karmic groupings are never by accident. People congregate together, flying in like a flock of birds and eventually out again. There may be some years’ difference in timing but years are neither here nor there in the timeless eternal.

Although Amira was given a suitable body in Maria, Farkas’s body simply materialised after it was deemed by the Advisors of the Homeland that he would make better progress as a man. When Farkas was told of the decision, he said, “I love a creature that is a spirit. If I return to Earth as a human, we will be too different to connect.” It was said to him,

You see the separation of life as very arbitrary at this time.
You are not alone in this assumption.
You have far more connection than you are even vaguely aware of.
You will not lose the love that is yours.

When Farkas returned to the Waldmeer house as a man, he waited for the plant that spirit-Amira inhabited to regrow in spring. He was hopeful that they would still be able to communicate. However, the plant did not grow again and Amira could not or chose not to return to the garden. Farkas did not realise that she too would soon be in Waldmeer within a gentle, local girl. He settled into village life without Amira and his memory of her and the other dimensions drifted into the recesses of his subconscious mind.

***

Back to now:

Spring was well underway in Waldmeer and Farkas decided that he really had to do some weeding in the garden. Recently, whenever he was in the back garden, he noticed that strange thoughts seemed to filter to the forefront of his mind. He didn’t know why or where they came from. One of those thoughts was,

You have far more connection than you are even vaguely aware of.
You will not lose the love that is yours.

The thought kept repeating itself. He couldn’t say that it was unwelcome but nor could he say that he understood it – not that the thought seemed to mind whether he understood it or not. It spoke in a relaxed, unhurried way as if passing the time of day with pleasant conversation. Farkas wondered what exactly he was connected to, what love was his, and (if he couldn’t lose it) in what form was it kept.

One morning, as Farkas weeded, he noticed a plant that he had never seen before in the corner. That plant hasn’t grown any other spring, thought Farkas. How sweet it is. After discovering it, Farkas checked on its progress frequently and took special care of it. For some odd reason, whenever he was near it, he seemed to feel more settled, quieter, and less worried. He would sit for longer than usual and enjoy the garden and the day – the smell of the grass, the sound of the birds and the insects, the vast blue of the sky, the soothing, soft breeze, the perfect design of the flowers, the grandness of the trees. He became very still and his breathing deepened. There was a content feeling inside his body.

Yes, Amira was back. Although she could no longer travel from the Inner Circle to Waldmeer as a human, she still had her ability to travel inter-dimensionally as a spirit. So, she did just that. She went where she felt called and tried to put thoughts into the air about love and peace and happiness and connection and all things beautiful.

Chapter 72: Forking Around

Gabriel didn’t want his few bits of furniture to be left in Amira’s bungalow now that it belonged to someone else. They weren’t worth anything and it would have been more practical to forget about them but he wasn’t ready to forget about anything. He politely knocked on the house door to inform Eve that he was there but, to his relief, there was no answer. Once inside the bungalow, Gabriel’s eyes were, yet again, drawn to the Darnall Curiosity Shop boxes that belonged to Amira’s great aunts. He opened one of them. He didn’t hear the eagles urgently calling to him from the forest. Suddenly feeling very tired, he sat on his old mattress which was lying on the floor.

***

In Borderfirma:

Gabriel found himself walking along a quiet road in unfamiliar countryside. It was the road leading to the intersection of the Borderfirma Mountains and the Borderfirma Lowlands. He could see in the distance that the road divided into two. He wondered which road he should take but then realised he didn’t know where he was or where he was going. Never mind, he thought, it’s only a dream. I can wake up whenever I want to. He could hear the faint sound of a voice up ahead. Straining to listen, he heard,

Think not you can return on the path that leads to the fork.
Taken once, it disappears as the choice lies ahead.
Both roads will lead to somewhere but one will be to nowhere.

Those were the same words spoken to Vera at the beginning of her Circles journey. Once Gabriel reached the fork, he couldn’t seem to make a decision about which way to go. He stood there a long time. Every time he took a few steps down one road, he felt dissatisfied. Afraid that he was going the wrong way, he returned to the fork.

“The worst place is at the fork,” said the voice that Gabriel heard previously. He turned to see a man with penetrating, grey eyes. It was Mullum-Mullum. “You can’t keep going the same direction as you came,” said Mullum-Mullum. “You have to choose one or other path. Whatever the choice, at least, it is movement.” Mullum-Mullum smiled slightly and said wryly, “Otherwise, you are just forking around getting nowhere.” Gabriel looked at the stranger to see if he heard him correctly but Mullum-Mullum was walking back into the trees.

In exasperation, Gabriel chose one path. Before long, he came upon a sign with two snakes. He looked at it and felt afraid. He returned to the fork and took the other way. It too had a sign after a while. It said something about dreaming a happy dream. Well, seeing as I’m already dreaming, thought Gabriel, I’d prefer it to be a good one so I will keep going this way. The birds in the surrounding forest sang more loudly and in fine unison.